Unexpected Corners of Love
by Monkey D. Toushiro
Summary: When Sasori dies, Konan is put up to be Deidara's new partner in the hunt for tailed beasts. Alone, the pair find themselves wrapped in a corner of the universe as they travel through the lands for the Sanbi. In their time together, what they find together is unexpected…love? DeidaraxKonan DeiKona
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

_It was dark in the cave. Rain could be heard faintly outside, hitting the exterior of the location quickly and steadily. A large plant rose up from the ground, opening its large carnivorous jaws to a man smiling inside of it. He had dull green hair with a face and body split perfectly in half with starkly contrasting colors: black and white. "Sasori is dead." Silence. Then, continuing: "Hidan and Kakuzu are currently capturing the Nibi."_

_Another man shifted slightly deeper inside the cave, his head lifting up. Through the darkness, only his purple rippled eyes—the Rinnegan—was visible. "Alright. We are doing well so far. Tell Deidara to begin hunting the Sanbi."_

_The Plant Man tilted his head, the black side of him speaking gruffly, "What about Sasori's replacement?"_

_"That has already been taken care of. Now leave quickly, Zetsu."_

_"Yes, Leader-sama." The Plant Man, Zetsu, smiled wider as he slowly sunk back into the ground._

_Listening to the pitter patter of the rain, the Rinnegan user sat in his throne in thought. Then: "Konan."_

_A person behind him, hidden in the shadows, stepped forward, the sound resounding in the cave. A woman, fitted with graceful beauty stood beside him. Her hair looked almost black in the low lighting, but under closer inspection, was a damp purple. "Pein-sama." Her lips barely moved as she spoke, her face stoic._

_"You will be Deidara's new partner." The man, Nagato, uttered as he stared ahead with unfeeling firmness._

_Konan paused and then replied in the same stony fashion, "Yes, Pein-sama."_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"So I'm assigned to Sanbi with Konan?" Deidara's brows furrowed at the thought of having another partner. Why did Sasori no Danna have to die? He wanted to show the stupid redhead whose art was superior. Deidara held in a scoff. _And there you went and got yourself killed off…_"I thought Konan was with Leader-sama."

Zetsu chuckled as he sunk back into the ground. "You'll see."

Deidara had no idea how this Konan character looked like. He recalled a dark figure, face obscured by the low lighting, and always standing behind Leader-sama. Other than that, his entire identity remained a mystery to Deidara and his fellow Akatsuki members even now. Deidara sneered. Zetsu probably knew how Konan looked like from the way he had acted.

xxxxxx

"Hello," a purple-haired woman nodded once at him. "I am Konan. I will be your new partner from now on."

Deidara's jaw dropped. Zetsu never mentioned Konon being a woman! A sexy one at that! She had porcelain smooth skin with delicate features that matched perfectly together. She wore a paper flower in her hair, which gave her a slightly younger—still drop dead sexy—image of beauty. And the, oh, she had a piercing right below her lips! The baggy Akatsuki cloak completely covered her figure though, he noted in slight disappointment. Her dark purple eyes bore into him with a small flicker of emotion he couldn't decipher.

Finally remembering to snap his mouth shut, he blinked and let out a smirk. "Nice to meet you. I'm Deidara."

She nodded in reply.

"So you know what we're doing, right?" Deidara asked.

She nodded again.

"Catching the Sanbi, yeah. It was last spotted at Mist."

She once again, nodded.

"So, uh, let's go!" Deidara took a step forward, giving a sideways glance at her, slightly put out by her lack of response. It was like he was having a conversation with himself. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, letting his little mouths on his hands build a bird large enough that could carry both of them.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was quiet but cut through the silence like a swift sword.

He glanced at her once more before he replied, "I'm making art!"

There was a pregnant pause between them. "If you are thinking of flying to the Land of Mist, don't." Deidara stared at her authoritative tone. She continued with that sharp yet quiet voice, "We have a long journey. We best save our chakra to capture the Sanbi."

Deidara was tempted to let out a childish grumble. _Why am I always stuck with the bossy and condescending ones?_

"Yes, yes. Whatever you say." His tone was bored.

They currently were somewhere in between the southwest of Amegakure and the northeast of the Land of Wind. They needed to literally cross the entire map from west to east. Deidara sighed and looked up at the deep blue sky. There was not a single cloud in sight. _This _was _going to be a long journey._

They traveled along the outskirts of the Land of Wind for a while—in absolute silence of course—until the sky turned dark pink. The sun was quarter way down into the horizon of the desert. It was just Konan and himself. The desert was vast, welcoming the resting sun in open arms. It looked beautiful. Not that Deidara would have ever said so.

Both of them stood in there, watching the sun set, their cloaks flapping against the wind in unison.

"Let's set up camp." Konan.

Deidara said nothing. He sat down on the gravel, still not breaking the sense of calm he felt from the sunset. He used a simple katon jutsu to build a fire and then proceeded to take out a ration bar from his bag. Chewing the bland substance, he stared into the flickering fire. Noticing movement from across the fire, he looked up to see Konan sitting, her face illuminated by the flame as she seemed to be focused on something in her hands. For a fleeting second, he couldn't help but stare at the serene beauty she portrayed. He shook his head, snapping out of the strange trance.

"What are you doing?" Deidara questioned after he swallowed the last bit of the nasty bar.

Unsurprisingly, she did not answer.

Standing up, he shifted himself around the fire until he could see what Konan was fiddling with.

He blinked in slight surprise. It was a crane. She was folding a paper crane.

Deidara almost smiled. It was an endearing sight. This quiet emotionless brick wall _did _have emotions, after all. Enough to do something that children normally did. He did not comment on it, but turned back to the fire, his elbows resting on his knees.

His blue eyes flickered along with the dancing fire before him. Deidara broke the silence as he said, "So what are your abilities?"

Konan looked up from the second crane she had begun to fold. "I fight with paper ninjutsu. Unfortunately both of us are long distance fighters."

Deidara let out a bark of laughter. "Paper ninjutsu?" Konan shot him a subtle glare. "Sounds interesting." Her eyes widened a fraction before she turned away.

"We have a disadvantage, however. Both of us are long distance fighters." Her voice was quiet.

"That's fine. We can just overpower them all before they can even get close. Sasori no Danna was a long distance fighter too."

Konan locked eyes with Deidara briefly, as if she was saying, _look where that got him._

"Well, we were outnumbered four to one." Deidara felt the urge to defend his ex-partner. "Hatake Kakashi was one of them." His arms ached every time he recalled the wretched shinobi transporting his arms to god who knows where with the—the cursed _Sharingan._ And then damned Kakuzu demanded a fee after stitching them back to his body, which had _hurt_. His face morphed into a dark scowl. Fuck Konoha and every single little trash ninja that lived there.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he concluded the conversation. "Whatever. We either fight and win and live or we fight and lose and die. I'm going to sleep." He lay on the sand and shut his eyes.

"Nighttime in the desert is cold. Very cold." Konan stated plainly. "And windy."

A gust of wind blew through them, dashing the fire away, as though it were trying to prove Konan's point.

Deidara, eyes still closed, clenched his teeth in irritation and cursed under his breath. There was a pause.

"Okay, okay, I'll pitch the tent!"

xxxxxx

The next day or two, they tread across the Land of Rivers, an in-between country of the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. They had stopped at a small town in a dingy inn. Konan had insisted upon having two rooms, even if it meant more money. He vehemently argued with her otherwise. He wasn't going to do anything to her, he had promised. They could spare some money for future necessities.

He had lost the argument.

Deidara had awoken early morning to be greeted by half a cockroach. Most disturbingly, the inside of his mouth had tasted slightly bittersweet. He could only hope the other half wasn't in his stomach.

Currently, they were quickly moving through the Land of Fire's plentiful trees, running down south along the border of the country and trying to be discreet as possible. Konoha shinobi were crawling all over the place near the border. The sooner they got out of the country, the less likely someone would spot them and report to the Hokage of their movements. That was an unlikely scenario, however. Deidara would bomb their insides to little pieces before they could even _think _of doing that. Of course, they were not spotted by a single ninja so far.

Konan was silent as ever, which Deidara had gotten used to. He enjoyed it, in fact.

They weren't silent because they didn't have anything to say. They were silent because they _chose _to. Although even if he tried to get a conversation going from Konan, he probably wouldn't be successful. Either way, the days he spent with the woman were _okay._

He hadn't seen her fight yet. That was something he was looking forward to seeing. Deidara had been tempted to purposely catch a few shinobis' attention that they had passed by just to see her fight them.

Konan was running in front of him while Deidara trailed behind her, both keeping the same pace. At one point, she slowed down enough to fall next to him. "East of here is a town called Tanzaku." They continued leaping from tree branch to branch. "Let us rest there."

Deidara looked at her and nodded. Konan leapt ahead once again, heading east.

Around five hours later, the town was visible from where they were. It was a larger town than he had thought it would be. Frowning, he suggested, "Let's henge. There definitely will be shinobi there. If anyone asks, we are a newlywed couple going on a honeymoon."

Konan said nothing as she put her hands together, her fingers forming a hand seal, henging herself into a black haired lady wearing civilian clothes. Deidara followed suit, transforming himself to a plain, mousy haired civilian.

When they got closer to the vicinity of Tanzaku, they jumped down from the trees and entered the city by feet. Despite the late hours, the town was still bustling with vigor, shopkeepers shouting jingles, people, people, _people everywhere, _walking this way and that. Every single one—living in the same place, yet leading their own separate lives.

Konan walked beside him as they pushed through a particularly rowdy crowd who were probably completely wasted. She spoke to him quietly—almost to quiet that Deidara didn't catch it. "You suggested the married honeymoon couple so you could room with me didn't you."

Deidara's mouth almost fell open at the bizarrely placed _false_ claim. He sputtered with indignation, "I didn't even bother thinking that far ahead! It was the best approach! It would be suspicious for too perfectly young and healthy man and woman to _not _share a room!"

Konan shot him a sardonic look. There was a silent, _keep on going. You're just digging yourself a deeper hole._

"I mean it's weird for a guy and a woman to travel together…alone. As mere friends." Deidara almost had a desperate gleam in his eyes as he looked towards Konan, still trying to justify his actions.

Konan said nothing. Although both of them knew there was no "friends" or "lovers" when in Akatsuki. _Especially _if both were in Akatsuki. But again, this was just their cover story. There was no need to think too deep into this.

They found a decent enough inn and settled with a simple room with two beds. It was cheaper than two single rooms. The inn keeper handed them a key that was labeled "Room 103." They climbed up the creaking stairs of the inn and opened the room door that had the corresponding room number on it.

Immediately, Deidara slammed the door closed. "Wrong room!" He stated loudly. Konan stared at him in silence. He pointed at the room. "There was only one bed in there."

Deidara looked at his key and then back at the door. This most definitely was Room 103. They had most definitely requested two beds…the inn keeper had mistakenly given them the wrong room. He glanced at Konan, gauging her reaction. Which she had none, of course. However, he knew her well enough to know she was internally debating with herself right now.

After a stagnant moment of heavy stillness until: "Give me the key." Her authoritative tone rung out in the narrow hall.

Deidara sighed and handed it over. He really wouldn't touch a strand of her hair if she didn't want him to. Why couldn't she understand that? He started resignedly, "Okay, I'll go talk to the inn keeper—"

"What are you talking about? C'mon." Konan had opened the room door and already begun putting down her supply bags.

Deidara walked in the small room with a flicker of surprise reflecting his eyes. So she _wasn't _as prudish as she made herself to be. He was learning new things about her everyday. He closed the door behind him and released the henge. Konan did the same.

He noticed there was another door that led to a bathroom on the right. The bathroom was tiny, skillfully managing to stuff both a tiny cubicle of a shower and a toilet. There was a sink was less than two feet in front of the toilet. Pumping his fist in the air, he said, "Yes, there's a shower! Finally! I can't even remember the last time I've had a good wash!" He turned to his partner with barely contained excitement. "I'm going to go shower now. Can you bring some food back while I'm at it?"

Before he could get an answer from Konan, he went to the bathroom and locked it shut. Entering the shower, he turned on the faucet. He almost jumped in shock at the ice cold water that hit his back. Still, a shower was a shower.

He hummed quietly in satisfaction as he felt the water warming up. He ran his hands through his blonde tresses and closed his eyes, enjoying the now hot water hitting down on him.

Eventually, he forced himself out and put his large Akatsuki cloak on, too lazy to put on anything else. Deidara stepped out of the bathroom, turning his head to Konan, who was sitting on the bed, folding a paper turtle.

She set down her creation and stood. "I thought women were the ones who like showering and take forever." There was amusement in her voice. Deidara raised his eyebrows at her, as if saying, _so? _

Konan shook her head as she walked past him with quiet grace. Right before she shut the bathroom door, she said, "I bought dango. It's on the table."

Deidara's brows furrowed in confusion. There was no table. He looked around the room and visibly brightened when he spotted a plate of dango placed upon…"That's a fucking _stool, _not a table!"

After unsuccessfully educating Konan that what she had called a table was a stool (Konan: "No, it's just a table that's shorter than usual. And smaller.") they settled themselves in the bed, both of them facing the other direction in opposite ends of the bed.

He closed his eyes and immediately felt a wave of exhaustion hit him. It had been quite a day…

"Hey." It was Konan.

Deidara frowned. He was about to fall asleep. "What." He snapped brusquely.

Ignoring his tone, she said, "Are you wearing anything under that cloak? I saw that you…left your clothes in the bathroom."

His closed his eyes, this time not in fatigue, but in exasperation. "No, I am not wearing anything under this. And your point being?"

"…Nothing."

"Good." Deidara paused. He shifted, turning around to Konan's back. "Are you a virgin? You act like one."

Konan's shoulders stiffened. "What are you implying?"

Deidara smirked, although Konan couldn't see it. "Nothing." It was said in a tone that meant anything but nothing.

"It's none of your business."

Deidara's smirk turned into a smile. "Ah, so you are one."

Konan suddenly turned around. Her face, Deidara knew, was inches from his. His eyes widened in surprise. The room was pitch black, so he could not see her expression, but he heard and _felt _her take a sharp breath in.

He smiled again and breathed out in a whisper, "Well, this is…rather unexpected." He made no move to turn away from her. Nor did she.

Konan let out a breath. She sounded shaky. "What is?"

"This." Both of them knew _exactly _what Deidara was referring to. "And that you haven't had sex yet."

The trance was broken from his last words. She turned away without another word.

Not even bothering to salvage the conversation, he, too, turned around and closed his eyes, allowing himself to enter dreamland.

xxxxxx

The next morning when Deidara woke up, the other side of the bed was empty. He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth. He placed a hand on Konan's side of the blankets. It was cold.

He stretched, not unlike a cat as he did so. His blonde locks fell messily on his back. Finally deciding he should start getting ready to leave, he stood. If he recalled correctly, he had placed his hair band on the stool last night. Still not completely awake, he walked across the room, which really wasn't very far at all considering how tiny it was, and looked down at the stool. It wasn't there.

He looked around in the bathroom. It wasn't there.

He grunted as he dropped to his knees, searching the carpet for it. It wasn't there either. "Whaaat?" He drawled out the word lethargically. Where the hell was his hair band?

Deidara sighed and crawled towards the bed. That was the only place he hadn't checked. He lowered himself against the floor and shifted himself deeper under the bed, his lower half still sticking out of the bed.

That was how Konan found Deidara when she reentered the room.

"What are you doing?"

Deidara jolted in surprise, knocking his head on the underside of the bed loudly. "Ow! Fuck!" He hastily popped his head out of the bed, rubbing the back of it with a deep scowl on his face.

Konan repeated her question. "What are you doing?"

He glared at her as he pat his hair down. It had gotten ruffled from diving under the bed. "What do you _think_ I'm doing? I'm looking for my hair band."

She raised her eyebrows at him. _I couldn't tell, _she seemed to say.

"You're acting like a girl."

Deidara growled out without thinking, "Maybe I am one!"

Silence.

"…I'm not a girl!"

Ignoring him easily, Konan said, "Hurry. The sooner we leave the better."

Grumbling, he shouted in a petulant fashion, "I need my hair band!"

"Put on some clothes first."

He looked down. His cloak had unzipped somewhere in the middle of everything. His chest and abdominal area was completely exposed. The left side of the cloak had slipped off his shoulder, riding down his arm. Deidara looked back up at Konan. She had turned away. For the first time that morning, he made a semblance of a smile. It still wasn't even near one, though.

Fact: Deidara was not a morning person.

xxxxxx

A/N: That was entertaining to write. *sips tea calmly*

Drop in a review if you have the time! ;P


	2. Chapter 2

Deidara and Konan headed southeast, still traveling across the Land of Fire. They had left Tanzaku early morning. Now it was nearly noon, but the scenery looked exactly the same as it did five hours ago at the outskirts of Tanzaku.

Deidara was moodily silent, sulking at the loss of his hair band. His hair whipped at his face every now and then as they jumped through the enormous forest. Each time made him grumpier than before.

Finally after another hour, Konan abruptly pulled to a stop. Deidara scowled at her, silently questioning her sudden action.

"Stop sulking." Her voice was quiet yet exuded authority.

Deidara's eye widened indignantly. "I'm not sulking. I want a hair band."

Konan sighed. She extended a hand, which Deidara tensed slightly at, unsure of what she was going to do. She let out another small sigh. "I'm giving you my spare hair tie. Do you want it or not?"

Deidara almost pouted. He didn't want just any hair tie, he wanted _his _hair band. Stifling his childish side, he nodded, muttering, "Thanks."

Konan raised an eyebrow.

Deidara ignored her gesture and tensed, eyes narrowed. He put a hand on Konan outreached arm. "Wait. Konoha insects coming from straight behind." He broke into a run with Konan trailing right behind him. Muttering under his breath, Deidara sneered out, "Why does Konoha have shinobi crawling all over the place? I didn't even get to tie my hair up…"

Once a couple more hours passed, they stopped at a random patch of grass in front of a just as random tree. Unsurprisingly, the area appeared identical to every tree-filled forest in the Land of Fire. The pair settled there for a quick rest before resuming their monotonous journey across the nation.

"Hey." Deidara began. Konan did not react, continuing to nimbly jump from branch to branch. "How long will getting across this damned place take?"

She turned towards him slightly before turning back. "What do you have against Konoha?"

"Their filthy shinobi, for one." _Missing nin or not. _Deidara thought of Itachi and Hatake Kakashi. "Plus, the terrain is shitty."

Konan was silent.

They continued at a fast pace through the trees.

About half an hour later, Konan faced him for a second and said, "Probably four to five days."

Deidara, knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. "What?"

"I said," Konan started, sounding slightly condescending as though she were speaking to a child, "around four or five days."

"Huh? What do you mean—oh—Oh." Deidara sighed in exasperation. Konan was answering his question he'd asked about how long it'd be out of the country. "You can't answer a question an _hour _later and expect me to know what you're talking about! Really, you don't really know how to hold a proper conversation do you?"

Konan's expression did not change, but she seemed more intimidating than a moment before. "It was half an hour ago."

Deidara rolled his eyes. He sped up his pace, jumping up next to his partner. "C'mon, hurry up. I just wanna get through this place already."

From there, the two of them ran side by side with matching steps in silence.

* * *

It was around late evening after Deidara had set up camp (no fire; that would just be asking for people to come, and _of course _Konan decided to make herself helpful by sitting against the tree while watching him work.) when Zetsu snaked up from the ground with that sick half-a-smile. Black Zetsu notified them with grave voice, "Hidan and Kakuzu just brought the Nibi in. Prepare for the extraction."

Without another word, the plant man slid back into the earth.

Deidara glanced at Konan before he said to her, "I'll set up some guards around here." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and began to carefully mold his clay into pieces of art. With a smirk, Deidara directed his chakra into the identical little white spiders that quickly crawled out of his pockets and scattered into the dark forest. "Mmkay, all set. Let's go."

The two of them sat down—Deidara noticed Konan had chosen to sit close to him than she had before—and made themselves comfortable. This could take a while.

Deidara leveled his chakra and channeled it into the Akatsuki ring. When he opened his eyes, his holographic body stood on one of the large rock fingers in a vast cave. As usual, he could only see a minimal amount of detail due to the low lighting. He raised an eyebrow when he sensed Konan disappear from his side and relocate herself next to Pein.

Leader-sama's voice rung deep with authority. "Now we just have to wait for Itachi and Kisame."

Deidara sighed and muttered a few curses about "the damned Uchiha and fishface making us wait."

There was a high laugh and a shuffle of feet that came across the cave. Deidara could barely make out a man with an orange spiraled mask that led to his right eye hole who was cheerfully dancing at his spot. The blonde furrowed his brows before shrugging, deciding that the masked man must be filling in Sasori's empty spot. The man—or boy?—said through his childish giggles, "Deidara-senpai is so funny. Luckily Tobi is a good boy, so I won't tell Kisame you called him a fishface!"

"You called me a _what?_" Came a dangerous growl from the new arrivals.

The masked man—Tobi answered without hesitation, "Fishface. I promised Deidara-senpai I wouldn't tell Fishface-senpai—eh, I mean, Kisame-senpai that Deidara-senpai said you were a—oh whoops!"

Deidara almost slapped his forehead at the new Akatsuki member's stupidity. _I'm so glad I didn't get paired up with him._

A new voice echoed the dark cave in exasperation. "Shut up, Tobi! Everyone's here so let's get started already!" After saying this, Hidan slammed his strange three-bladed scythe on the tip of the giant rock finger he stood on.

"Hey," a rough growl came from beside Hidan, "you're the loudest of them all, Hidan. Shut your mouth before my ears fall off."

"What did you just say-!"

"Silence!" Pein's eyes widened, his inherited Rinnegan in plain sight. Deidara, along with everyone else's attention was immediately at Leader-sama. The blonde cast a sideways glance at Konan and almost jumped out of his skin to see her staring down at him intently. Deidara raised an eyebrow at her after immediately recovering. She turned away with the same stony face.

Apparently Leader-sama had been speaking, which Deidara only caught on his last words: "…now let the extraction of the Nibi begin."

The process of pulling the tailed beast out of the kunoichi was a long, taxing process. Deidara was sure he wasn't the only one whose ear drums were hurting from her constant screaming. Finally when all the chakra was completely sucked out of her, her body fell limp on the ground. Pein's eyes swept his underlings before he said, "Good. Keep this up." His gaze fell on Deidara, who tensed in attention. "Deidara, Konan, stay behind. Everyone else is dismissed."

Hidan and Kakuzu, the only people who were actually physically present in the cave, jumped off the elevated surface to the ground and vanished. The rest of the Akatsuki members' holograms flickered out one by one.

Of course, Tobi couldn't leave without adding cheerfully, "Ooh, Deidara-senpai is in trouble~!"

If Tobi wasn't a hologram, Deidara would have blasted that brat's ass to a billion little pieces.

Leader-sama deliberately cleared his throat. He began, "How is the capture of Sanbi going?"

It was Konan who answered. "We are currently crossing the Land of Fire. So far no one has crossed our way."

Deidara's face darkened with a scowl. "Looks like that's about to change. C'mon, Konan, let's go. I sense three incoming shinobi."

Her hauntingly beautiful features faced Deidara with mute surprise. She recovered silently and nodded, her hologram flickered slightly until it was gone. The blonde looked at her empty spot, curious about her reaction and then followed suit.

Deidara opened his eyes again and found himself back in the dreary forest of the Land of Fire. He immediately checked his surroundings, instantly picking up slight chakra flares from his right.

Just through the clearing stood Konan looking down at three unmasked and heavily injured Konoha ANBU who each had their shoulders and wrists pinned to trees behind them with a smooth white stick—probably paper considering it was Konan. Their masks were cracked and appeared to have been thrown onto the ground.

For a second, Deidara felt disappointment at missing Konan in action. He shook himself out of his thought and walked up to one of them who looked up at him with a defiant glare. "Hm." Deidara started. "That was quick."

Konan glanced at him, saying quietly, "They were weak."

Snarling, the ANBU on the left struggled against the tree, more blood spurting out of his wrists. "Stop talking like we're dead! Why is the Akatsuki here?!"

Deidara exchanged looks with Konan. _Looks like they didn't know we were in this country. Good_.

The middle one who seemed to be the leader, glared at his subordinate. "Quiet. Don't give them any information."

Deidara chuckled. _Too late. _"Well there's no information we need to specially get out of you three." The noisy one let out an infuriated roar. "Really, it was just your bad luck that you stumbled upon us."

Konan stepped up and asked quietly, "Shall I do the honors or you?"

Deidara nodded. They needed to cover their tracks. This was another chance to see her form of art, even though he would have enjoyed using his own. "You may."

His partner briefly closed her eyes before opening them. Without a word or movement, small pieces of paper seemed to flake off of her. The paper gathered together and shaped themselves into three large paper spears. In one quick motion, all three spears pierced home, straight into the ANBUs' heads.

Deidara watched with interested eyes, almost applauding her performance. "Impressive! Your form of art is pretty artistic."

Konan gave him a look he couldn't identify. She walked past him and said, "Let's go."

"What should we do with their bodies?"

"Just leave them there."

Deidara raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Konoha can do nothing to stop us from our mission by the time they find them anyway. Plus, they are well aware of our existence. There's no need to hide."

That sounded reasonable. "Mmkay. Let's go then."

The two of them took off into the forest quickly but quietly.

They kept at their fast pace until midnight, finally deciding they were far away enough from the scene.

They stopped at the side of a river and set up a tent in comfortable silence. To Deidara's surprise, Konan decided to help him. Once they finished eating the bland ration bars, Deidara decided to take a brief climb up a tree.

Easily sticking onto the trunk with his chakra, he walked upwards, wondering just how high the tree was. Just as he finally reached the top, a great gust of wind blew at him. The trees swayed along with the breeze, a few leaves blowing into his face. A feeling of tranquility washed over him as the wind died down, only leaving silence behind.

Deidara let out a deep sigh as he looked up at the night sky. He took in a breath sharply at the sight.

The sky was illuminated by millions of tiny little stars, some brighter than others. They were scattered across the vast space above in a messy fashion. The brightest spectacle was the moon that glowed almost boldly in contrast to the stars. To put it simply, it was amazingly beautiful.

"Konan! Come up here for a sec!"

Silence.

"Seriously, come look!"

"What is it?" She questioned sharply.

Deidara almost jumped in surprise. She was too quiet for his health. He looked up again and pointed to the sky. "Look."

Konan tilted her head up. Her expression did not change, but her eyes shined against the twinkling stars, seemingly marveling the sight.

After a minute or two, Deidara glanced at his partner to see her reaction. The blonde's eyes widened in shock as he saw Konan, the emotionless brick wall who spoke as often as he spoke to his mother (which was not often), _smiling. _

It completely transformed her. She no longer gave an air of haunting loneliness, but of happiness from the bottom of her heart.

Deidara wasn't sure if the sky or Konan was more beautiful.

Konan noticed his staring, her smile slipping off with a questioning look replacing it. _What is it? _She seemed to ask.

"Uhm, nothing. It was just my first time seeing you smile." Deidara cursed himself for sounding nervous. He had no reason to.

Konan gave him a long look before she resumed admiring the night sky, the cool midnight breeze sweeping through her hair.

A quiet moment passed between them. She spoke with a clear voice, "Today was also my first time hearing you call my name."

Deidara's eyebrows knitted together. They've been working together for almost a week now. There was no way he hadn't called her name until today. Thinking back to day one and all the way to now, Deidara tried to recall a time he'd said her name.

"Uhm…" Deidara started. "You're right. That's strange. How could I not have said your name yet?" He scratched his head and looked a little sheepish.

Konan shot him a smile so tiny he thought he'd imagined it. She said, "Well, going on that topic, I've never said yours either."

The blonde laughed. "We're a dysfunctional bunch, aren't we." He sighed as he resumed admiring the stars.

Konan almost sounded wry as she said, "You kind of have to be when you're a member of Akatsuki."

Deidara silently agreed with her but didn't respond.

For the rest of the night, the two of them stood atop their own trees, just watching the sky.

Just the two of them.

As they did so, Deidara felt this _feeling _well up in his chest; his heart. He couldn't quite pin down this emotion, but whatever it was, made him feel fulfilled and warm and maybe even perhaps—happy?

He knew it had something to do with his strange partner, but what was it? What changed in him that made him feel this way?

Brainstorming through a few theories, he came across one—a forbidden one. Deidara froze, himself and his heart, as he thought of the other impossible possibility.

Love?

He glanced at Konan but his eyes immediately flickered away when he noticed she was staring at him thoughtfully. Deidara shook his head. No, it wasn't love. Shinobi such as him: a missing-nin of the Akatsuki cannot love. Those kinds of emotions have long been stunted by the deeds of countless killings.

After a while, Deidara settled upon the fact that he was _content _with Konan. And that he felt full, or complete with her, so to speak.

By then, it was four in the morning. The sky was still dark, but both could see the sky gradually brightening. Konan said, "We should continue east now." The kunoichi began to step down the tree when Deidara put a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait." Deidara said. "The sun is rising."

"Yes. Which is why we leave."

"Have you ever watched a sunrise before?"

The question was so sudden, Konan didn't speak until after a moment. "I might have. But we don't have time for it now."

Deidara protested, "This is a perfect time to watch one! You might have _seen _one, but you have ever sat down and put your full attention on watching the sun rise?"

Konan gave him a slightly reprimanding look. "We are here to capture the Sanbi, not to enjoy every scene we see." With that, she leapt down from her tree without a sound.

The blonde sighed in resignation, jumping down after her.

They tread through the Land of Fire's vast forest for a few hours side by side. The two of them had gotten noticeably closer—in terms of their partnership as well as literally. Their shoulders almost touched as they leapt from branch to branch in unison.

Deidara sensed a shift in Konan and cast a questioning look. She met his eyes, hesitating for a moment and then saying quietly, "We can watch a sunrise together after the Sanbi, Deidara."

The blonde had to suppress a grin.

_Fin._

* * *

**Well that's it! It was a refreshing write and I hope it was a refreshing read :)**

**I'm not sure if you guys think this end is really sudden, but it was never my intention to write about the two of them until they fell in love. They are slowly getting there. It's just up to the readers where they go!**

**Although in canon Deidara dies pretty soon after . All well. Small detail.**

**Drop in a review if you would! :D**


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